1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system for conveying the operational condition of a railcar brake system.
2. Description of Related Art
A train consist typically includes a lead locomotive and one or more remote locomotives and railcars, comprehensively referred to as rolling stock. Each piece of rolling stock has braking equipment including, among other components, a section of brake pipe, a control valve, a brake cylinder, an emergency reservoir and an auxiliary reservoir. The brake pipe sections are connected forming a brake pipe that extends the length of the consist. The control valve directs pressurized air into and out of the brake cylinder as a result of changes in the level of brake pipe pressure. To apply train brakes, the brake pipe pressure decreases at a specified rate, which determines the percentage (e.g., amount of pressure) of brake applied.
Proper functioning of the braking system for each piece of rolling stock in a train consist is important in maintaining safe and efficient operation of the consist. Improper functioning of braking equipment in a train consist may cause loss of efficiency, for example, excessive fuel consumption or increased wear on wheels and brake shoes. Thus, regular brake equipment testing, diagnostics and maintenance are required.
Prior art brake testing and diagnosing devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,808,909 to Rees, U.S. Pat. No. 6,327,894 to Vaughn and U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,550 to Dougherty et al. Specifically, these patents disclose portable testers that need to be transported between railcars in order to test each railcar. These portable testers either directly or indirectly connect to various brake system ports of the railcar to receive pressure data therefrom for further analysis. However, the prior art testers provide a highly inefficient manner of obtaining the condition of the brake system.
With respect to the Rees and Vaughn patents, the testers are cumbersome in size and in connectivity. For example, the testers need to be connected to various ports situated in various areas of the railcar. The tedious act of connecting and reconnecting conduits to ports needs to be done for each railcar. With respect to the Dougherty patent, the only manner in which the operational condition of the brake system may be viewed is by utilizing a hand-held wireless device, which may easily be lost. The drawbacks of the invention disclosed in the Dougherty patent include, for example, the added expense of such wireless devices and the issue of availability of such wireless devices at various stations. Furthermore, the prior art is only capable of performing testing while the train and its railcars are stationary.
It is, therefore, desirable to overcome the above problems and others by providing a system and method for efficiently conveying the operational condition of a railcar brake system.